The police have sounded alert as the investigation into the loan app fraud and harassment cases have found links with servers operating from Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Nepal and other countries. The police have also stepped up vigil on the loan app operators.
Decoy parties, IT Core team and the Cybercrime Police of Krishna district, who camped at different locations, have busted the racket with links to suspected ISI agents, the police say.
Cases have been registered against the loan app operators and agents in Kankipadu, Machilipatnam, Penamaluru, Atkur and Gudivada Rural police stations. Similar cases have also been registered in Telangana and other States.
The police have arrested ten commission and recovery agents operating out of different States. The police say that the loan operators have been doing illegal business transactions worth crores of rupees. More than ten persons have died in Andhra Pradesh in the last few months, allegedly unable to bear the harassment by the loan operators and agents.
“The investigating officers have found that the addresses of these loan app operators and the WhatsApp numbers used in the transactions have links with Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and Nepal. The accused used to send one-time links for money transactions to evade police and investigation agencies,” says Krishna district Superintendent of Police P. Joshua.
The commission and recovery agents were using bank accounts opened in the branches in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Telangana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Karnataka. The accused were using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology for making calls to the borrowers, he said.
“The loan operators disbursed loans through ‘Well Credit-Gold Credit’, ‘Magic Loan App’, ‘FF Loan’, ‘Buddy Loan’, ‘True Loan’, ‘Great Loan’ and other apps. We are verifying the e-mail accounts, KYC, call data, PAN details, bank addresses, IFSC codes the accused were using. IP addresses of the app links and the WhatsApp numbers used by some of the accused have been traced to Rawalpindi in Pakistan and different cities in Bangladesh, China and Nepal,” says the SP.
Investigations have revealed that the accused used to destroy the SIM cards after using them for one operation. Once the operator receives the amount through the link, it would disappear automatically.
The arrested are the recovery agents who used to receive commission through social media platforms and banks. The loan app operators used to recruit software professionals to create the apps and links for financial transactions. The loan app operators have made a business of about ₹100 crore, Mr. Joshua says.
“We are trying to find out whether any ISI agents were operating the apps. The bank accounts, phone numbers, social media groups used by the loan app operators and agents are under scanner,” the SP adds.
